Front Swift coilover spring upgrade
In pursuit of springs which are lighter and stronger per rate, I switched to swift springs again.
As I was pretty happy with my current front/rear ratio, I selected 392lb front springs, and 672lb rear springs. The rears will be installed tomorrow (maybe).
Side by side:
Believe it or not, the Swift 7k spring is 1 ounce lighter than the 6.5k TCK VVS spring. Not a big difference. However, I did weigh my old Swift Spec-R front spring. 4 pounds 7 ounces, compared to the Swift coilover spring at 2 pounds even. So comparing swift springs OE style to coilovers, it represents almost 2.5 pounds weight reduction at the two front corners, or ~5 pounds on the front axle. Whew.
TCKR plates vs OE top hats:
I really wanted to like these camber plates. Bolted them up and great, felt fine, and were adjustable, which is what I wanted. BUT. The damper thread gain was negligible, and I really didn't like how they bolted up to the shock tower. So I took them off and put the OE top hats back on. I will be installing the Dinan fixed plates this fall before my next "real" alignment. I'm sure someone can make use of these TCK plates, they'll be going up for sale soon.
TCK front reinstalled with OE top hat and new Swift 7k front spring.
As you can see from this picture, and the first, I also installed Swift thrust sheets. Honestly, I'm not sure they help. Spring compression seems more controlled and fluid, but that could just be attributable to the springs themselves. I will say I did have some gouges in the spring perches, which indicates to me that the TCK VVS springs caught and bound on me previously. For $25, it's not a big gamble. For anyone considering swift thrust sheets on the lower perch of TCK SA coils, you may need to bore out the thrust sheets by 1mm. They fit the upper perch perfectly, but were slightly too small for the lower. Fixed in 5 minutes with a dremel, but be aware!
As always: any questions, fire away!
